An Israeli newspaper close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday accused Switzerland of spending $2 million on legal activities which it says harm Israel.

Israel Hayom claimed that the Swiss foreign ministry sent an estimated $2 million to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs through its diplomatic mission in Ramallah to pay for legal activities which harm Israel.

According to the Israeli newspaper, the funds were paid to the Israel and Palestinian organisations shortly after the Swiss government ended its support for a Palestinian NGO over its support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, noting that the funds went for similar projects.

The Israeli newspaper claimed that it has contracts signed by the Swiss diplomatic mission in Ramallah and pro-Palestinian organisations in 2018. It did not state the source of the contracts, only that the funds were allocated for three Israeli organisations: Hamoked, a human rights organisation, Physicians for Human Rights and Adalah – The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

The funds were used for “building cases for the International Criminal Court (ICC)” and “collecting testimonies, field inspections, holding interviews and [providing] legal assistance to victims of war crimes”, Israel Hayom reported.